Homosexuals may not be free in freed Libya

Newly liberated Libya may not extend its new-found freedoms to homosexuals, with the interim Libyan leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, announcing his intention to make Islamic Sharia law the basic source of the country's legislation.

Homosexual activity is illegal under Sharia law, though the prescribed penalties differ from one country to another. Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Somalia have the death penalty for homosexual activities. In most of Indonesia, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq same-sex intimacy is illegal but there is no specific penalty. Only in relatively westernised Islamic Turkey are homosexual acts in private between consenting individuals legal.

Abdul-Jalil says he does not intend to adopt harsh punishments such as stoning, flogging or cutting off hands or arms for offences including adultery and theft but has so far made no specific mention of his views on punishments for homosexuality.